Funfetti Sheet Cake

This is the perfect cake for birthdays, parties or any time you want to bring some fun into life! Light and moist cake with lots of sprinkles!!

Easy recipe for white Texas sheet cake with birthday sprinkles made in a 18x13 half sheet pan. Thin layer cake with pink buttercream frosting for icing. Moist cake made with butter, sour cream, and sprinkles.

Sheet cakes are one of our favourite desserts. I often make it when people are coming over. It is also a perfect dessert to take to a potluck or picnic because you can slice the cake into small or large pieces. You can sure feed a crowd with this cake!

The most common sheet cake that I make is a Chocolate Sheet Cake. It is fudgy, chocolatey, moist and an amazing cake.

Close up picture of a sheet cake with one piece cut out.

What Makes Funfetti Sheet Cake So Good?

To switch things up, I decided to make a different type of cake. I love birthday cake flavour in ice cream, cookies and so much more. It is also best in its original form – cake! So, let’s make a sheet cake with a flavour that is as colourful as it looks.

This funfetti cake is so fun and colourful. The neon pink frosting makes it so bright and happy. It is the perfect cake for a birthday or fun party. Not only are there sprinkles all over the frosting, but I also mixed a bunch of sprinkles in the white cake batter at well. 

Every bite is a party!

Flour and other dry ingredients whisked together in a mixing bowl.

Dry Ingredients

The first step to making this cake is to whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisking them together allows the baking soda, baking powder and salt to mix well with the flour and sugar. Set the dry ingredients aside till later.

Saucepan of butter melting.

Melt Butter

Put the water and butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter is completely melted. Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly.

Melted butter being poured into a mixing bowl filled with flour.

Pour the melted butter and water mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Whisk gently until incorporated. It is okay if there are a few lumps, but you should not be able to see any of the flour or dry ingredients. When mixing, making to get all the way to the bottom of the mixing bowl.

A glass mixing bowl with eggs and sour cream.

In a separate bowl, add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Whisk rigorously to fully mix the eggs into the sour cream.

Cake batter being poured into a bowl.

Pour the egg mixture into the mixing bowl and gently whisk it together.

A measuring cup of sprinkles about to be poured into a bowl of cake batter.

Sprinkles, Sprinkles And More Sprinkles!

The last step of making the batter is to mix in the sprinkles. Make sure to use these long sprinkles (also known as jimmies). On top of the cake and icing, I used the little ball sprinkles (also called nonpareils). If those are mixed into the batter they dissolve very quickly, causing it to discolour the batter. These long sprinkles do not do this as quickly.

Cake batter poured into a baking sheet and ready to go into the oven.

How Long To Bake Sheet Cake

Even though these long sprinkles do not dissolve as quickly, the colour will still leach into the batter, so make sure that you have greased the baking sheet ahead and the oven is preheated to 375F. Then, once you are ready, dump the sprinkles into the batter and gently fold them in so they are well dispersed into the batter.

Pour the batter onto a 18×13 half sheet baking pan. Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly across the baking sheet. The cake is now ready to be baked. Put in the 375F oven and bake for 22 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Baked sheet cake out of the oven.

Cool Before Frosting The Cake

Once the cake is finished baking, take it out of the oven and place on a cooling rack. With a traditional sheet cake, I spread the icing on the cake while the cake is still hot. This allows the icing to melt and soak a little into the cake, creating a fudge layer. It is delicious.

For this funfetti cake, I let the cake cool completely before spreading on the icing to keep it as separate layers.

Frosting being mixed in a stand mixer.

While the cake is cooling, it is time to make the buttercream frosting. I find that one of the best ways to make a creamy buttercream is to beat the butter by itself on high for a couple minutes. This essentially whips it and makes a light frosting. 

Pink frosting spooned onto fresh baked cake.

When spreading the frosting, be gentle, so that you do not tear the top of the cake. 

Pink frosting being spread onto a sheet of cake.

I like to use a large angled icing spatula when spreading the frosting. 

Cake frosted with pink icing with sprinkles all over the cake.

Top With More Sprinkles!

After the frosting has been spread across the cake, you can then top it with the sprinkles. I used nonpareil sprinkles which are the little balls. But really, you can decorate it with any type of sprinkles or other types of cake and cookie toppers and decorations. 

The cake can be sliced into 20 equal sized square servings. One of my favourite aspects of sheet cake is that it is a great dessert to serve at a party of for a big group of people.

A piece of sheet cake on a small square plate.

More Cake Recipes

Funfetti Sheet Cake

5 from 1 vote
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Easy recipe for white sheet cake with birthday sprinkles made in a 18×13 half sheet pan. Thin layer cake with pink buttercream frosting for icing. Moist cake made with butter, sour cream, and sprinkles.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 20 servings

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup sprinkles (jimmy sprinkles)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Buttercream Frosting

  • 1/2 cup butter softened
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • pink food coloring
  • 4 1/2 cups icing sugar
  • 1/3 cup sprinkles (nonpariels)

Instructions

  • Heat 1 cup butter and 1 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and whisk so that the butter is all melted. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour in the butter and water mixture and fold it in the dry ingredients until it is all wet and combined.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture and fold in until combined. Be careful not to overmix. Fold in the 1/2 cup sprinkles
  • Spread on a greased 18×13 half sheet baking pan.
  • Bake in a 375F oven for 22 minutes.
  • Once the cake is finished cooking, remove from the oven and place on a trivet or cooling rack. Wait for the cake to cool completely before frosting.
  • While the cake is cooling, make the frosting by beating the softened butter with a hand or stand mixer. Slowly beat in the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Once all the icing sugar is mixed in, beat in the vanilla and pink food colouring. Then, beat in the milk until it is a spreadable consistency that you would like for the cake.
  • Spread the frosting evenly on top of the sheet cake. Top with the 1/3 cup sprinkles
  • Slice and serve.

Nutrition

Per serving:

Calories: 400kcalCarbohydrates: 63gProtein: 2gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 226mgFiber: 1gSugar: 53g

Nutrition Disclaimer

Categories

Easy recipe for white Texas sheet cake with birthday sprinkles made in a 18x13 half sheet pan. Thin layer cake with pink buttercream frosting for icing. Moist cake made with butter, sour cream, and sprinkles.

Did you try this recipe?

Leave a comment and let me know how it turned out. Or, take a picture to share on Instagram and tag me @theblackpeppercorn.

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